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An Act To Assist Municipalities with the Recycling of Solid Waste by Allowing Net Electrical Billing Credits
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA c. 24, sub-c. 9  is enacted to read:
SUBCHAPTER 9
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT NET ELECTRICAL BILLING
§ 2241. Definitions
As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
 
1.  Electrical utility.     "Electrical utility" means a transmission and distribution utility as defined in Title 35-A, section 102, subsection 20-B.
 
2.  Electricity supply billing.     "Electricity supply billing" means the portion of a periodic electricity bill that charges for energy, ancillaries, the independent system operator and other included costs. "Electricity supply billing" does not include any portion of the transmission and distribution component of a customer's periodic electrical bill.
 
3.  Governmental entity customer.     "Governmental entity customer" means a municipality that enters into a contract under section 2242.
 
4.  Municipal solid waste.     "Municipal solid waste" means the solid waste collected by a governmental entity customer that remains after the program of reuse, reduction, recycling and composting certified under section 2422, subsection 2 and that is sent to a participating waste-to-energy facility for processing and conversion into electricity.
 
5.  Net electrical billing credits.     "Net electrical billing credits" means the monetary credits that must be applied by an electrical utility to the monthly electricity bill of a governmental entity customer that has earned those credits by sending municipal solid waste to a participating waste-to-energy facility for conversion into electricity pursuant to a contract under section 2242, subsection 1.
 
6.  Participating waste-to-energy facility.     "Participating waste-to-energy facility" means a solid waste disposal facility licensed by the department that converts municipal solid waste to electricity through incineration, reduces the volume of the municipal solid waste it processes by at least 80% and the weight by at least 65% and is not a party to a power purchase agreement entered into pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, United States Code, Title 16, Section 2601, et seq.
§ 2242. Solid waste management net electrical billing program
 
1.  Contracts.     A participating waste-to-energy facility may develop, offer and enter into a contract to convert a governmental entity customer's municipal solid waste to electricity and to provide net electrical billing credits to a governmental entity customer based upon the number of metered kilowatt-hours produced by such conversion. A contract authorized under this subsection must be certified by the department as complying with the provisions of this subchapter.
 
2.  Governmental entity customer certification.     A governmental entity customer that enters into a contract pursuant to subsection 1 shall provide an annual written certification to the department that it operates a program that provides for the reuse, reduction, recycling and composting of at least 30% of the solid waste it collects before it sends that municipal solid waste to a participating waste-to-energy facility for processing and conversion into electricity.
 
3.  Metering.     A contract entered into pursuant to subsection 1 must require the collection of electricity production and consumption information through the use of 2 types of metering:
 
A.  Metering by generation meters registering the flow of electricity produced through the incineration of municipal solid waste at a participating waste-to-energy facility; and
 
B.  Metering by consumption meters registering the consumption of electricity by a governmental entity customer.
 
4.  Annual electrical crediting calculation.     A participating waste-to-energy facility shall annually report to the department and the Public Utilities Commission its calculation of its municipal solid waste to electricity conversion factor, which is the average number of kilowatt-hours of electricity generated from the processing of one ton of municipal solid waste, determined by dividing the total electrical power generated by the facility in processing municipal solid waste, according to generation metering under subsection 3, by the total number of tons of municipal solid waste processed during the prior year. The participating waste-to-energy facility shall certify the calculation under this subsection and provide the calculation to the department and the Public Utilities Commission on or before a date determined by the department.
 
5.  Annual electrical crediting rate.     Based on the calculations provided to the department and the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to subsection 4, the department, in cooperation with the Public Utilities Commission, shall set the annual rate at which net electrical billing credits must be determined by each participating waste-to-energy facility for the next year.
 
6.  Reporting of net electrical billing credits.     Each month a participating waste-to-energy facility shall provide to an electrical utility that provides electric service to a governmental entity customer a report identifying the number of net electrical billing credits earned during the preceding billing cycle by each governmental entity customer that receives electric service from that electrical utility. A participating waste-to-energy facility shall provide to each governmental entity customer a report identifying the number of net electrical billing credits earned by that customer. An electrical utility shall enter into a contract with a participating waste-to-energy facility and each governmental entity customer for the transfer of electrical energy to those utilities. A contract under this subsection must be certified by the department, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, as complying with the provisions of this subchapter.
 
7.  Application of electrical billing credits.     An electrical utility shall apply reported net electrical billing credits for a governmental entity customer on the customer's next monthly electricity bill. Credits may be applied only to either the standard offer service charge or competitive energy supplier charge on the electricity supply billing portion of the governmental entity customer's monthly electricity bill. Credits on a monthly electricity bill not used by a governmental entity customer must be carried over and applied to a future monthly electricity bill for that customer.
§ 2243. Administration
This subchapter is administered by the department in consultation, when considered appropriate by the department, with the Public Utilities Commission.
§ 2244. Rulemaking
The department shall adopt rules necessary for the operation and administration of this subchapter. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
§ 2245. Legislative review
Beginning in 2017 and every 2 years thereafter, the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environmental and natural resources matters shall review the percentage of solid waste that a governmental entity customer is required to reuse, reduce, recycle or compost under section 2242, subsection 2.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides that a municipality that operates a program of solid waste reuse, reduction, recycling and composting may send municipal solid waste to a waste-to-energy facility and receive credits on the municipality's electricity bill for the electricity that is generated from the incineration of the municipal solid waste.